A Department of State Services witness has testified before a Federal High Court in Abuja that National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu verbally confirmed to investigators that he had the conversation which former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai claimed to have received from a source who wiretapped the NSA’s communications, providing crucial corroboration for the prosecution’s case in the ongoing national security trial.
The witness, identified in court only as APC for security reasons, said that following el-Rufai’s appearance on an Arise News television program in February in which he alleged the NSA was behind a plot to arrest him and that he had obtained the information through a wiretapped conversation, investigators interviewed Ribadu, who verbally confirmed he had held the relevant discussion with ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu. The ICPC boss similarly confirmed having the exact conversation after portions of the interview were played to him.
A 43-minute recording of the television interview was played in open court. In the interview, El-Rufai defended the practice by arguing that governments routinely monitored communications. The program anchor and a lawyer who appeared on the program were also interviewed and confirmed aspects of El-Rufai’s statements.
Under cross-examination by El-Rufai’s counsel Chief Paul Erokoro SAN, the witness admitted that no communication device belonging to the NSA was examined, no IP addresses were obtained, and no forensic analysis of the alleged interception was conducted, saying such steps were unnecessary after the NSA confirmed the authenticity of the conversation. He also conceded that El-Rufai did not specifically state during the interview that he personally carried out the interception. The judge adjourned to June 22 and 23 for continuation.
